Who is The Apprentice?: The Apprentice -- AKA Starkiller -- is a disciple of Darth Vader, who saw Starkiller's potential as a Force-user and trained him personally. As a covert operative, the Apprentice undertook many missions, but one mission stood out from the rest. He was instructed to investigate an anomaly -- a gate to another dimension -- and without hesitation, he entered the Soul Calibur universe.

Strengths: Fast and decently powerful, the Apprentice is a well-rounded character. His Force move serves as a long-range attack and can set up good combos. For example, the Apprentice can start a combo by using the Force Grab (A+B) after a low attack, tripping an opponent. The Force Grab also creates combos outside of the game engine, such one involving Force Blast into Force Levitate (down, A+B, up), which launches an opponent high above the Apprentice's head and then combos in the air for heavy damage. Another solid move is his Mist Splitter (B, B), an attack that's quick and has decent range.

Weaknesses: Similar to Yoda and Darth Vader, the Apprentice is shackled to a meter that depletes whenever a Force move is used, limiting the frequency of some of his most useful and damaging attacks. He also lacks good low attacks -- his slow lows are easy to spot them and block accordingly.